Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Attempt at your own risk!
1. Using Asus' back-up utility, create an image of your system.
You can back it up on an external hard drive, a Blu-ray disc or on multiple dvds. I used a BR disc for simplicity (and to test the burner).
The back-up will include the OS, the device drivers and all the annoying bloatware.
I won't go into details of the back-up process, as it's pretty straightforward (and it's been awhile since I've done it).
2. Place the notebook upside down with the HDD bay cover towards you.
3. Remove the battery (press the tab until it pops out).
4. Discharge any ESD on your body by touching something grounded (such as a screw on the chassis of your microwave).
5. Using a small phillips screwdriver, turn the screw on the drive cover counterclockwise until it becomes very loose (it won't come out of the plastic). Once the screw is loose, the cover will protrude a little bit. Pull the cover off (it's tight, but will come off with a bit of force):
6. The primary HDD is on the right-hand-side and the secondary is on the left. Both drives should be removed, as the machine will detect the secondary drive when you do the recovery and tell you to do so (just remember which is which).
Remove the 4 black screws around the caddies:
7. Once the caddies are loose, gently pull the HDDs away from the centre, towards the outer edges. I used a flathead screwdriver to pry them out. Once near the edges, lift the drives up and out of the way (be sure not to apply too much pressure on the SATA connectors).
8. Place the secondary drive to the side and remove the 4 screws on the side of the caddy holding the primary drive.
9. Swap the HDD with the SSD, place the screws back in the caddy, place the caddy back into the notebook and fasten the caddy to the bay (on the right-hand-side).
10. Put the drive bay cover back on temporarily, power up the unit, place the disc in the drive (or use the external HDD with the image) and follow the instructions that appear.
The notebook will reset a bunch of times and will eventually prompt you to decide whether you want to partition the drive or not. The options are written in Engrish, so it can be a bit confusing. I chose option 2 (the one in the middle) to have no partitions (which is what you what for a basic installation).
The machine will finish the install and then reset. Once you see Windows load, you should be in luck.
11. Power-down the notebook and put the secondary drive back in. Place the cover back on, starting at the bottom and then snap the top back in and tighten the screw. Power up the machine and you're good-to-go!
You can use the SSD strictly for the OS and any installed programs you use and the secondary drive to store music, porno, movies (whatever the hell it is you like to do).
Since I haven't done this in a few months, I may have missed a detail or two, so feel free to ask me some questions. I'll check the forum over the next week or two and answer any that I can.
Quick N76VZ-DS1 SSD Installation Tutorial
Discussion in 'Asus' started by Kaiser2000, Sep 4, 2012.
